Chapter 13

I touched my throat.

The invisible force dissolved.

He backed away.

"Impossible…"

I stepped toward him.

"Do you know why I chose the eighteenth time as the last?"

He looked at me.

"Because in the last seventeen lives, I broke seventeen of your array's anchors."

I pointed at the coffins.

"Each coffin is an anchor I've locked down."

"And the final one…"

I met his eyes.

"Is you."

Lu Changsheng spun around.

Too late.

All seventeen coffins shook at once.

Bang!

Bang!

Bang!

Their lids flew open.

Streams of red light shot out, circling the room, forming an enormous array.

Lu Changsheng screamed.

"NO!"

He lunged for the door.

But it was gone.

Four dark-red walls slowly appeared.

I looked around.

The room from my dreams.

Here, at last, in the waking world.

I understood.

This wasn't where my daughter had been imprisoned.

It was the prison I'd prepared for him.

Lu Changsheng turned, hatred in his eyes.

"You think you can hold me?"

I didn't answer.

He laughed wildly.

"Don't forget!"

"You're still pregnant!"

"Once the array is complete, the two fate-souls will reunite!"

"The child will disappear!"

I stopped.

He noticed at once.

His smile returned.

"Yes."

"You thought you'd won?"

"To seal me away, you have to reclaim the part of your fate-soul you split off."

"Your daughter will never be born!"

I looked down at my belly.

Pain stabbed through my heart.

The child was silent.

Softly, I called, "Sweetheart."

After a long while, her voice came.

"Mommy."

"I know."

I closed my eyes.

Tears fell.

"How long have you known?"

"Since the seventeenth time."

"Why didn't you tell me?"

Silence.

Then she smiled.

"Mommy."

"You've loved me seventeen times already."

"I don't mind."

I broke down.

"But I do."

She said nothing.

I laid both hands on my belly.

"I don't want to lose you."

"I…"

My voice caught.

"I haven't even seen you open your eyes."

"Haven't held you."

"Haven't heard you call me Mommy outside a dream."

I cried until I couldn't breathe.

"I don't want this."

Lu Changsheng laughed.

"Then let me go!"

"Let me go, and I'll let you both live!"

I looked up.

"I can promise you!"

"I won't touch the child!"

I watched him for a long time.

Then slowly shook my head.

"You've said that seventeen times already."

His smile froze.

I looked down.

"Sweetheart."

"There's another way."

She startled.

"Mommy?"

I smiled.

"This time, I won't choose between you and the world."

"I choose both."

Chapter 9: The Final Prophecy

Lu Changsheng looked at me with contempt.

"What are you going to do?"

I didn't answer.

A plan had already begun to form.

I'd made the same mistake seventeen times.

Trying to destroy the array by force.

Never considering one thing.

If Lu Changsheng needed eighteen fate-soul fragments to escape reincarnation…

Why did I have to give him the last?

I looked at the coffins.

Each held a piece of memory.

A piece of destiny.

A piece of lost time.

Slowly, I asked, "Sweetheart."

"You can see the future, can't you?"

"Yes."

"Have you seen how my life ends?"

Silence.

"Will I die this time?"

After a long while, she answered, "Yes."

I closed my eyes.

"And you?"

"Me too."

I drew a deep breath.

"What if I do nothing?"

"Lu Changsheng will get out."

"And then?"

"A lot of people will die."

I nodded.

"Then one last question."

Her answer was soft.

"All right."

I looked straight at Lu Changsheng.

"What happens if I destroy all seventeen coffins?"

The child fell abruptly silent.

I knew I'd guessed right.

Lu Changsheng's expression changed.

"You wouldn't dare!"

I laughed.

"So I am right."

He lunged.

The array held him fast.

I went to the first coffin and placed my hand on the lid.

A voice sounded inside my head.

My voice.

But younger.

【If you're hearing this, we've failed for the first time.】

I froze.

The voice continued.